TOWN PLANNING BOARD Minutes of 503rd Meeting of the Rural and New Town Planning Committee held at 2:45 p.m. on 17.1.2014 Present Director of Planning Chairman Mr K.K. Ling Mr Timothy K.W. Ma Vice-chairman Professor Edwin H.W. Chan Dr C.P. Lau Dr W.K. Yau Professor K.C. Chau Dr Wilton W.T. Fok Mr Ivan C.S. Fu Ms Janice W.M. Lai Ms Christina M. Lee Mr F.C. Chan - 2 - Chief Traffic Engineer/New Territories East, Transport Department Mr K.C. Siu Chief Engineer (Works), Home Affairs Department Mr Frankie W.P. Chou Principal Environmental Protection Officer (Strategic Assessment), Environmental Protection Department Mr H.M. Wong Assistant Director/New Territories, Lands Department Ms Anita K.F. Lam Deputy Director of Planning/District Secretary Miss Ophelia Y.S. Wong Absent with Apologies Mr Rock C.N. Chen Mr Lincoln L.H. Huang Mr H.F. Leung Ms Anita W.T. Ma In Attendance Assistant Director of Planning/Board Ms Brenda K.Y. Au Chief Town Planner/Town Planning Board Mr Louis K.H. Kau Assistant Town Planner/Town Planning Board Miss Floria Y.T. Tsang - 3 - Agenda Item 1 Confirmation of the Draft Minutes of the 502nd RNTPC Meeting held on 3.1.2014 [Open Meeting] 1. The draft minutes of the 502nd RNTPC meeting held on 3.1.2014 were confirmed without amendments. Agenda Item 2 Matters Arising [Open Meeting] 2. The Secretary reported that the Court of First Instance had granted the application for judicial review lodged by the Town Planning Board to quash the decision of the Town Planning Appeal Board for proposed golf course and residential development at Nam Sang Wai & Lut Chau, Yuen Long (Case No. HCAL 26/13) on 16.1.2014. Details of the judgement would be reported in the next Town Planning Board meeting. - 4 - Sai Kung and Islands District [Ms Donna Y.P. Tam, Senior Town Planner/Sai Kung and Islands (STP/SKIs), was invited to the meeting at this point.] Agenda Item 3 Section 16 Application [Open Meeting (Presentation and Question Sessions Only)] A/I-NP/16 Proposed Place of Entertainment in “Other Specified Uses” annotated “Cable Car Terminal” zone, Part of Lower Ground Level of Ngong Ping Cable Car Terminal, 111 Ngong Ping Road, Lantau Island (RNTPC Paper No. A/I-NP/16) Presentation and Question Sessions 3. The Secretary reported that the application was submitted by Ngong Ping 360 Ltd., which was a subsidiary of MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL). Ms Janice W.M. Lai had declared an interest on this item as she had current business dealings with Ngong Ping 360 Ltd. and MTRCL. Mr Ivan C.S. Fu also had declared an interest on this item as he had current business dealings with MTRCL. The Committee noted that Ms Lai had not yet arrived to join the meeting. The Committee considered that the interest of Mr Fu was direct and he should leave the meeting temporarily for this item. [Mr Ivan C.S. Fu and Mr Frankie W.P. Chou left the meeting temporarily at this point.] 4. Ms Donna Y.P. Tam, STP/SKIs, presented the application and covered the following aspects as detailed in the Paper : (a) background to the application; (b) the proposed Place of Entertainment use (“Dialogue in the Dark”) at part of the Lower Ground Level of the Ngong Ping Cable Car Terminal (the - 5 - terminal building); (c) departmental comments – departmental comments were set out in paragraph 9 of the Paper. The Commissioner for Tourism (C for Tourism) supported the application. Concerned Government departments also had no objection to or no adverse comment on the application; (d) during the first three weeks of the statutory publication period, one public comment was received from a member of the Islands District Council who objected to the application on the ground that local consultation had not been conducted. No local objection/view was received by the District Officer/Islands (DO/Is); and (e) the Planning Department (PlanD)‟s views – PlanD had no objection to the application based on the assessment set out in paragraph 11 of the Paper. The proposal was compatible with the tourism uses in the area. C for Tourism supported the application and considered that the new attraction could enhance the appeal of the area to visitors and promote Lantau Island as a MICE (meetings, incentive travels, conventions and exhibitions) destination. The proposal involved no change to the mass and height of the terminal building, and the total commercial gross floor area (GFA) at the terminal building (i.e. 310m2) was still well within the maximum non-domestic GFA of 1,200m2 permitted under the“Other Specified Uses” annotated “Cable Car Terminal” zone. The proposal would generate positive social impact by providing job opportunities to the visually impaired. It would not cause adverse environmental and traffic impacts on the surrounding areas. As to the public concerns on lack of local consultation, the application was published for comments during the first three weeks of the statutory publication period. DO/Is had also consulted the Resident Representative of Ngong Ping/the Abbot of Po Lin Monastery and both of them had no comment on the application. 5. Members had no question on the application. - 6 - Deliberation Session 6. After deliberation, the Committee decided to approve the application, on the terms of the application as submitted to the Town Planning Board (TPB). The permission should be valid until 17.1.2018, and after the said date, the permission should cease to have effect unless before the said date, the development permitted was commenced or the permission was renewed. The permission was subject to the following condition : “the provision of fire service installations and water supplies for firefighting to the satisfaction of the Director of Fire Services or of the Town Planning Board.” 7. The Committee also agreed to advise the applicant of the following : “(a) to note the comments of the District Lands Officer/Islands, Lands Department that the applicant should in accordance with the Tung Chung Cable Car Ordinance (Cap 577) and the associated Project Agreement apply consent from her office who may, in granting such approval, impose appropriate terms and conditions (including payment of additional premium). But there is no guarantee from the Government that the approval be given; (b) to note the comments of the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene that the operator should apply for relevant licenses before commencing their business; and (c) to note the comments of the Chief Building Surveyor/New Territories East 2 and Rail, Buildings Department that the requirements for Places of Public Entertainment under Section 3 of Part B of the Code of Practice for Fire Safety in Buildings 2011 should be fully complied with.” - 7 - Agenda Item 4 Section 16 Application [Open Meeting] A/SK-HC/227 Proposed Houses in “Recreation” and “Road” zones, Lots 101 s.A. (Part), 102 s.A., s.B, s.C(Part) & s.E(Part), 103 s.A.(Part) & s.B(Part), 104 s.A & R.P., 105 s.A & R.P., 107 s.A to s.C(Part) & s.D. to s.H., 108 s.A, s.B, s.C. & RP, 109 s.A & R.P., 110 to 111 in D.D. 247 and Adjoining Government Land in Ho Chung, Sai Kung (RNTPC Paper No. A/SK-HC/227) 8. The Secretary reported that Mr Ivan C.S. Fu had declared an interest in this item as he was the director and shareholder of LWK & Partners (HK) Ltd., the consultant of the applicant. The Committee noted that Mr Fu had refrained from joining the meeting. 9. The Committee noted that the applicant requested on 24.12.2013 for deferment of the consideration of the application for two months in order to address the departmental comments. This was the first time that the applicant requested for deferment of the application. 10. After deliberation, the Committee decided to defer a decision on the application as requested by the applicant pending the submission of further information from the applicant. The Committee agreed that the application should be submitted for its consideration within two months from the date of receipt of further information from the applicant. The Committee also agreed to advise the applicant that two months were allowed for preparation of the submission of the further information, and no further deferment would be granted unless under very special circumstances. [The Chairman thanked Ms Donna Y.P. Tam, STP/SKIs, for her attendance to answer Members‟ enquires. She left the meeting at this point.] - 8 - Tsuen Wan and West Kowloon District [Mr Wilson W.S. Chan District Planning Officer/Tsuen Wan and West Kowloon (DPO/TWK), Ms Fonnie F.L. Hung, Senior Town Planner/Tsuen Wan and West Kowloon (STP/TWK), and Mr James K.Y. Tsui, District Lands Officer/Tsuen Wan & Kwai Tsing (DLO/TW&KT) were invited to the meeting at this point.] Agenda Item 5 Section 16 Application [Open Meeting (Presentation and Question Sessions Only)] A/I-MWI/45 Proposed Recreational Park (Ma Wan Park) (Proposed Amendments to Approved Master Layout Plan), Various Lots and Adjoining Government Land, Ma Wan (MPC Paper No. A/I-MWI/45) 11. The Secretary reported that the application was submitted by Ma Wan Park Ltd., which was a subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (SHK). Mr Ivan C.S. Fu and Ms Janice W.M. Lai had declared interests on this item as they had current business dealings with SHK. The Committee noted that Ms Lai had not yet arrived to join the meeting and Mr Fu had refrained from joining the meeting.